Appletell

That’s right, Doom is coming to the iPhone. I’m not talking about the “terrible fate” sort of doom, I’m talking about the monster murdering, machine gun shooting game. John Carmack, a co-founder and key programmer over at id Software, says their mobile division is strongly looking at developing for the iPhone. He even stated he would’ve loved to have something ready at the launch of the platform, but timing and resources didn’t work out for him.

Mr. Carmack isn’t talking about some silly, small sized Doom look-a-like, either. He says they have a title they want to develop just for the iPhone, and that one of the cool things about the iPhone is that games can be megabytes, not just kilobytes, in size (which could mean he has something big up his sleeve).  Even further yet, Carmack one day sees a life where there would be multiplayer combat through cellphones.

This guy is my hero.

Via [MacNN]

It’s not long into Fable: The Lost Chapters before you realize you’re in for something different. As if the words “Action/RPG” aren’t already enough to warm the soul of Mac gamers everywhere (oh, we’ve tasted action and we’ve tasted RPGs, but we rarely have them served in the same meal), the dramatic conclusion to the otherwise light and cartoony introduction will let you know that maybe this game is special.

And it is.

Find out why after the break.

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Haven’t caught all of the Appletell news this week?  Here’s your chance to catch up on this week’s top 10 articles!

• How to get the most out of your iPhone battery
  “Perhaps one of the biggest disappointments about the new iPhone 2.0 software is that all those apps can really take a toll on your battery life. With the iPhone being the central hub of my online life when I’m on the…” MORE »
• iPhone Dev Team finally releases PwnageTool 2.0 for iPhone, iPod Touch
  “Just when we were beginning to savor the peace and quiet of the Sunday, the iPhone Dev Team finally announced that the iPhone/iPod Touch PwnageTool 2.0 is available for download. It comes in a sizable ZIP file that can be downloaded…” MORE »
• Appletell Review: Maximo iMetal Isolation headphones, iMetal Stereo headphones for the iPhone
  “ Developer: Maximo Price: iP-HS2 iMetal Isolation Headset: $69.99, iMetal Stereo Headphones: $69.99 Availability: Out now Pros: Both models offered great sound quality…” MORE »
• Apple has some work to do with iTunes 7.7, iPhone 2.0, and the App Store
  “Apple’s recent launch of a few very popular services and products has brought many complaints and problems to the company. Despite this, the iPhone 3G has sold out practically everywhere, and the App Store is a huge hit, but…” MORE »
• MacBook Touch coming in October?
  “ Okay, so I know this guy who knows this guy who knew this guy who read on Gizmodo that MacDailyNews has a source who leaked that the MacBook Touch will be coming in October. Obviously, it’s just a rumor,…” MORE »

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Apple supplied developers with a mechanism for developers to update their apps with through the App Store on the iPhone/iPod Touch. When an update is available, users can either download them through the mobile App Store on their iPhone, or will be prompted to download it in the iTunes Store. One thing they didn’t test is the save data created by the apps.

For example, saved data in games, log-in information in web applications and other data created or stored in the app is lost when updated. This “feature” of updating becomes a major annoyance; especially for those not wanting to start games over again. All that’s needed is for the saved data to be stored in a location away from the app file itself. Currently, the app gets overwritten with the updated app and all personal data within the app is lost (see Is there an iPhone app update bug?). I’m sure Apple are working on a solution for this (possible in the forthcoming iPhone 2.1 update). If not, they need to start now.

Via [TUAW]

Orange is one of the UK’s leading networks, along with O2—who are currently supplying iPhones to customers in the UK. A report from this morning reveals that Orange may join O2 in providing the UK with iPhones; perhaps as soon as October this year. If this were to go ahead, it would be the first country where more than one network carried the iPhone.

Electric Pig, a fairly reputable tech news website in the UK, published the claims of the website Omio who have spoken with a “very, very credible source on the inside that the iPhone 3G will be available on Orange in the UK, possibly as soon as October.”

Orange is already the selected carrier for the iPhone in France, Austria, Belgium, the Dominican Republic, Egypt, Jordan, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Switzerland and Africa.

Adding an extra network carrying the iPhone in the UK could boost sales of the device, especially if Orange were to bring more competitive pricing plans than O2. It will be interesting to see what happens as Apple increases their demand for a secure market share everywhere in the world.

Via [Macworld UK]

The iPhone 3G is obviously in short supply, but Macworld reports that that’s not necessarily bad for Apple. Over one million iPhones were sold in the first three days. It took the original iPhone 74 days to reach one million sold.

I’m sure many of you have seen the lines that are still adorning the front of Apple Stores across America. This is very different from the original launch of the iPhone, which was available days after launch. Almost all Apple Stores remain void of any iPhone 3G’s in stock, and AT&T isn’t a whole lot better. They are recommending their customers use the direct fulfillment plan, and estimate a wait of about two weeks for an iPhone 3G.

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Aurora Feint, the free and popular iPhone game, has been removed from the App Store due to privacy concerns over its community feature, which allowed users to see which of their friends were playing the game at the same time. The concern surrounds the fact that Aurora Feint uploads your entire contacts list, unencrypted, to the developer’s server.

There was no malicious intent involved; having your contacts uploaded was just easier than typing in your friends’ data by hand, according to Danielle Cassley, one of the game’s developers. Casserly claims that they “… weren’t trying to be sneaky about how this worked,” and that a notification message of some sort was “… just overlooked.”

Details on the problem and, now, the subsequent fix, after the break.

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Mac app RiftVault has come out of pre-release for its full public 1.0 release. RiftVault allows you to store your important personal information using encryption to ensure the safety of your private information. RiftVault is designed to hold credit card information, passwords, banking info, and even files that you want to be secured (using the very clever Safe Deposit Box feature). This new and awesome app for Mac OS X will only cost you $39.95, and there is even a free 30-day demo so that you can test it before you buy it. However, you are required to be running Mac OS X Leopard to be able to use RiftVault.

Everything stored in RiftVault is encrypted using 256-bit AES encryption, which is so secure that the U.S. government adopted it as a standard for protecting its own confidential information. When you open an item in RiftVault, it is unencrypted and cached for fast access, and is erased from your Mac’s RAM as soon as you close the item.

Try RiftVault free for 30 days, or buy it for $39.95—you won’t be disappointed in its amazing encryption abilities.

Via [TUAW]

Along with the new beta firmware, Apple has also seeded a new version of the iPhone SDK, although the new SDK cannot be used to submit applications to the current App Store. Earlier reports suggested that Firmware 2.0.1 had been spotted in the wild, but a 2.1 upgrade would presumably introduce more than just bug fixes. The new features that will be included in the 2.1 version of the iPhone firmware include the early Push Notification APIs which allow applications to process notifications in the background, a featured Apple promised for September.

Via [GearLive]

FROM GAMERTELL - Square Enix’s Song Summoner: The Unsung Heroes is an admirable strategic RPG for iPods. While it does have frequent loading periods and is a battery hog, it is also an engaging game that is perfectly suited for the device.
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